The Presents of Panic
by Phnxgirl
Summary: Brief panic ensues late Christmas Eve night.


My final fic for the densi-mber fest on Tumblr. Hope you enjoy! Thx to Psyched for all the helps! Disclaimer: Anything you recognize isn't mine!

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Kensi slowly blinked her eyes open, realizing she'd once again nodded off. She and Deeks were indulging in their traditional Christmas Eve viewing of the Home Alone movies (well the two that counted). A tradition that had begun in the mess hall aboard the Van Buren years before. A quick glance at the clock above the television caused Kensi to startle. Almost eleven! And she still had so much she needed to do!

Kensi struggled for the remote, caught between her sleeping fiancé and the couch back. She tapped lightly on his arm, hoping to be released without waking him. She really needed him to stay asleep right now. But to no avail.

"No, don't. Let's just sleep right here," Deeks whined, pulling Kensi tighter to him.

"Deeks, babe, I can't move. I need to get up. Why don't you, uh, go take Monty for a walk before we go to bed?"

"Nah, I just took him a little bit ago, he'll be fine for awhile." Deeks kept trying to snuggle tighter against Kensi, while she was trying for the exact opposite.

"No Deeks, he definitely looked like he needed to go, you should walk him down to that corner house. You both like all the lights on it, go check it out once more before the season is over." Kensi prayed the fog of sleepiness would mask her attempt to push him out of the house.

She felt his lips brush her temple before finally being released from his python-like grasp. Kensi busied herself with cleaning up their snacks while Deeks trudged to the door, and coerced the dog into the cold air. The moment the door closed, Kensi pounced, rushing to the garage to grab all the items stashed away in her car. She'd just barely made it inside with her second armful when she heard the front door open again. Panicked, she pulled everything into their master bathroom and turned on the shower to buy her some time. She closed the door of the bathroom behind her just as Deeks walked in, pulling off his hoodie as he went.

"Well, that was super quick." _Too quick_ , she thought, trying to stall to think of a new plan.

"Monty went, it was cold, we came back." Deeks shrugged by way of explanation. "Oooh, you going to hop in the shower? Shall we double up? You could help me warm back up," he winked suggestively at her.

"No!" Kensi refused a bit too quickly. "I mean, no, actually, could you maybe make us some of that wonderful cocoa you do? Then maybe we can enjoy a nice bath?" His homemade cocoa recipe took a meticulous 20 minutes, and if she hurried, might give her enough time. She put on her best pleading face, knowing he rarely denied it.

Kensi nearly did a happy dance when he agreed and headed toward the kitchen. She rushed to the bathroom to complete her tasks, but had only barely begun when Deeks returned.

"So apparently I misjudged and I only have enough for one batch, and we definitely need that for tomorrow morning, so I made some Swiss Miss for now. Sorry princess," he spoke through the door, startling Kensi as her plans were foiled yet again. Kensi was glad she'd set the lock, as Deeks tried opening the bathroom door, but was surprised when he was unable to open it. He twisted the knob rapidly as if that would unlock it.

"Deeks! Give me a few minutes. I'm a bit more than peeing here," Kensi called out.

"That's never stopped us before! C'mon, your cocoa is getting cold!" He again tried the knob to no avail.

"Dinner caught up with me, and trust me, you do NOT want to come in!"

Deeks made to protest again but stopped as Kensi cracked the bathroom door open only wide enough for one eye to glare at him. "Deeks, I love you. But we're engaged. We live together, we work as partners together, we're together 24/7! You're like a child! I just need 10 minutes alone!" She slammed the door shut, leaving Deeks to ponder her words. He sat hard on the bed worrying about his Kensalina. She was scaring him, demanding to be left alone in their tiny bathroom. Then he heard it. It sounded like, paper crumpling? Followed by Kensi unsheathing her knife?!

Suddenly a yelp echoed out to the bedroom. "Shit!" Deeks anxiously ran towards the door, finding it still locked. "Kensi! What happened!? Are you okay!?"

There was no verbal response, but the door opened just a crack. Deeks didn't see anything, but then felt a slight brush against his knee. He squatted down, taking hold of his fiancee's hand, which had snuck through the space.

A small dome of blood was beading out along Kensi's finger. Instinctually, he stuck the pad of finger to his lips in attempt to staunch the flow of blood. When it was clear, Deeks examined the injury, the thin deep line of a paper cut. His eyebrows knit together as the pieces fell together.

"Are you wrapping my presents?!" He made contact with the one eye peeking thru the gap in the doorway. No response from Kensi, but the eye he could see glanced downward shamefully, and the hand retracted.

"No I'm failing to, since you won't _leave me alone_ for five minutes, Mr. 'I've had all my presents bought and wrapped for two weeks'!"

"What?! I wasn't _boasting_ ,"

"You've been bragging for weeks saying you had gotten the perfect gifts, and had them all set and ready to go and under the tree. I didn't want to admit I didn't."

Now the other pair of eyes dipped. "That maybe wasn't all me," he conceded.

"You made your mom wrap your presents to me!?"

"No! I shipped the stuff to her house. As you said, we're rarely apart. How else was I to get it? I went to go pick them up, and she had already wrapped them. What was I to do, undo all her work, just to rewrap everything?"

"I guess not. But go away so I can finish this before it actually becomes Christmas morning!"

"Why waste the time wrapping them when I'd rather just unwrap you under the tree?" Ignoring Kensi's sigh of amused exasperation, Deeks continued. "Really though, I'll just be undoing all this work in a few hours."

Kensi opened the door quickly and slipped through the crack before Deeks could try to look. "No," she stole a quick kiss as she shot down his hopes. "It's the principle! Now, go! The quicker you leave, the quicker Santa can come and Christmas morning will arrive." Deeks sighed and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Kensi called after him. She waited until he turned, then ran over to give him another hug and kiss. "Thank you. I love you! And in thanks for indulging me, I'll even show you how much!" His face lit up. " _After_ I'm done, mister! Now scoot!"

Deeks headed out to the living room, where he would wait patiently for his favorite gift of them all.


End file.
